VHFA News

This holiday season VHFA is auctioning off many themed-baskets brimming with fabulous gifts and donating all proceeds to the United Way of Northwest Vermont. We can’t think of a better, stress-free way to get your holiday shopping done!

Each beautiful basket is described fully at Bidding for Good. Place your bid now and check back often before the bidding closes on Monday, December 18 at noon. Bidding is simple with the easy account creation tool at Bidding for Good.

There are basket themes to suit everyone on your list, from “Family-Game Night” to “Chocolate Lovers” to a “Carhartt Basket” as well as many Vermont-themed products and services.

Please feel free to share this email with all your friends and family.

Housing partners seeking to improve opportunities for lower income Vermonters described this week why federal tax reform bills would make reaching this goal much harder and hurt Vermont communities. Learn more from these WPTZ and CCTV stories.

The House and Senate bills undergoing reconciliation contain a number of provisions that affect housing. This table from CPA firm Novogradac & Company compares current law to proposals in the House and Senate tax reform bills.

Executive Director Sarah Carpenter announced that Vermont Housing Finance Agency (VHFA) has hired Mia Watson of Essex Junction for the position of Research and Communications Coordinator. Watson comes to VHFA from University of Vermont where she worked in the Administrative Business Center while completing a Masters of Public Administration.

“We are excited to have Mia back at VHFA after her graduate internship in our Research Department last year,” Carpenter remarked.

Watson fills a position vacated by Leslie Black-Plumeau. Black-Plumeau has moved into the role of VHFA’s Policy and Planning Manager.

VHFA is a non-profit agency created in 1974 by the Vermont Legislature to finance and promote affordable housing opportunities for low- and moderate-income Vermonters. Since its inception, the Agency has helped approximately 29,000 Vermont households with affordable mortgages and financed the development of approximately 8,800 affordable rental apartments.

The Vermont Affordable Housing Coalition (VAHC), a state leader in housing policy, research and advocacy, issued the following statement last week on the tax bill recently passed by the U.S. House of Representatives and under consideration in the Senate:

At a time when Vermont already has a shortage of 10,866 affordable homes for extremely low income renters and the 5th highest affordability gap for renters in the country, the pending tax proposals would eliminate tax credits and financing tools that have helped create thousands of affordable apartments in our state and made homeownership more affordable for thousands of Vermonters.

“Vermont already has an affordable housing crisis, but these bills would make it a catastrophe. Without the tax credits and bonds that the House bill eliminates, thousands of affordable homes will not be built, and more Vermonters will be left homeless or stuck in homes they cannot afford,” said Ted Wimpey, VAHC Steering Committee Chair and Director of CVOEO’s Fair Housing Project. “The Senate proposal is more favorable but would still substantially reduce affordable rental housing production at a time when the need is so acute. If either of these tax bills becomes law, it will put families out on the streets and irreparably harm Vermont communities.”

During the LUCA 2020 Workshop, the Census Bureau will review the three options available for LUCA participation. It will discuss the free software tool available (GUPS) to review and update the census address list. This workshop will show municipalities how to prepare, register, and participate in this important program for their communities. The demonstration will provide concrete resources to help your city or town get an early start on LUCA 2020.